Dick Bostdorff, an organizational effectiveness consultant, speaks about fiscal policy at the second and final Reno 2010 Forum held at UNR on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011. / David B. Parker/RGJ

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Up next: The final installment of the the Reno Gazette-Journal's special report on the local economy, Reno 2020, will be published on Feb. 13. Included will be case studies of programs that have spurred economic recoveries in other cities and action steps that might be taken here.

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Nevada needs to make tough choices and identify which priorities it can address now with its limited resources if it wants to emerge from the current downturn with a viable economy.

That was the consensus of a panel of business and community leaders that met Wednesday at the University of Nevada, Reno's Lawlor Events Center.

The panel, comprised of team leaders for the Reno Gazette-Journal's Reno 2020 project, identified a set of action items within four key areas considered vital for economic development: education, green energy, fiscal policy and innovation.

It was the second portion of a two-part forum, which aimed to develop scenarios that will, over the next 10 years, set the region on a path to greater economic success.

The Reno 2020 project began in October in conjunction with UNR's Center for Regional Studies, which generated a scenario of what Reno would look like in 2020 if it remains on its current course.

A sense of urgency was palpable among the panelists Wednesday, and even some audience members during the economic forum's public comment portion.

"The conditions we're in now are very unique," said Steve Hull, chief community engagement and communications officer for the Washoe County School District. "If anybody thinks we're going back to the same economy we had in 2006 ... it's just not gonna happen."

Part 1 (second video plays on page 2)

» Maintaining education funding: Panelists agreed that targeted, quality education from pre-school to college is a vital part of economic development. But they also agreed that there must be increased accountability, especially when it comes to results.

» Creating a business ombudsman: Having a go-to person that businesses can go to for streamlining such issues as code discrepancies or inefficiencies within the different locales can help speed up the process of bringing or starting a business here by preventing costly delays.

» Diversifying the tax base: A revenue neutral assessment of the tax base needs to be performed in order to diversify it to better match the current economy. This prevents downturns in a few sectors such as gaming and construction to cause a fiscal crisis.

Part 2

» Commercializing the fruits of research and development: Placing increased focus on creating startups from higher education research will spur both innovation and entrepreneurship.

For any of these initiatives to be implemented, however, there must be greater involvement between the community and its legislators, said Dick Bostdorff, team leader for the Reno 2020 fiscal policy team.

"We must start now," Bostdorff said. "If we don't start fixing these problems today, then you're not gonna get them fixed."